A new combat robotic system has been introduced in Russia – this time it's not about a drone, but about a sniper's weapon. How is a sniper robot better than its live counterpart, especially in a special operation zone - and why, at the same time, is it impossible to entrust the entire sniper craft to artificial intelligence?
The Russian arms company Lobaev Arms, known for its high- precision rifles, including those used in the military area, has begun mass production of a new robotic sniper system. This development, dubbed the "Twin", promises, if not a revolution, then significant changes in the sniper business.
The "twin" includes a high-precision rifle itself, an automated fire control system based on artificial intelligence, a machine tool and electric guidance and reloading drives located on it, as well as a complex carrier, which can be different.
So, in the video of the tests of the sniper complex, you can see its placement on a robotic tracked platform and in the back of a pickup truck. It can be used from a stationary turret. There is footage of an operator using a remote control to control a sniper robot from a firing position in a building.
The complex is capable of independently detecting the target, tracking it and, having determined the parameters of the shot, hitting it at the operator's command or offline.
This is not the first such initiative. Back in 2018, at the Eurosatori exhibition, the French company SD4E demonstrated a mobile robotic platform with a sniper system installed on it. The creators proposed using this system during police operations, because
The complex is capable of hitting any point on the human body at a distance of up to 300 meters, which can be important if necessary to take the attacker alive.
In 2021, at the exhibition and conference of the Association of the United States Army, the American companies Ghost Robotics and Sword International showed a prototype of the combat "robot dog" SPUR. The robot was armed with a high-precision sniper rifle equipped with a flameless and silent firing device capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 1,200 meters.
The first combat use of such devices can be called the terrorist attack committed by the Israeli special services on November 27, 2020 against Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. He was killed by a remote-controlled robotic machine gun from a distance of 150 meters.
Lobaev Arms has been working with robotic weapon–carrying platforms for quite some time. So, back in 2016, ten years ago, a prototype of the Minirex combat robot was created for urban combat and counter-terrorism operations. He was able to climb ladders, use shelters, and rise from any position after a fall. The robot was equipped with an automated control system with a two-channel (television and thermal imaging) sight, a built-in ballistic computer, the ability to automatically capture a target and remote control.
The complex was armed with an automatic rifle chambered for 7.62 × 39 and demonstrated incredible results for its "mortar" trajectory – a confident defeat of the head target up to 400 meters and a height figure up to 700 meters. Thus confirming the old truth that most rifles shoot better than their shooters, and the human factor prevents them from reaching their full potential.
The appearance of a "Doppelganger" is an attempt to solve a number of problems that snipers faced during their military operations. Thus, the massive use of small UAVs has dispelled the "fog of war", which is so necessary for a sniper and which is his element. The probability of detecting his firing position from a reconnaissance drone equipped with a thermal imager is extremely high. Even using different screens and heat–masking capes does not become a panacea - a sniper can be detected when advancing to a position or when changing it after a shot.
At the same time, the sniper is inferior to the FPV drone operator in a number of positions. First of all, it is much easier to hide from sniper fire, which is always direct, than from a drone – you cannot hide from it behind a blind fence.
The operating range of even the most powerful rifle is no more than two kilometers (in reality even less), and the FPV drone is capable of finding and destroying an enemy at a distance of ten times more (at least). It takes a lot of time and money to train a sniper capable of working with a long-range rifle with a powerful cartridge. A drone operator can be trained faster and cheaper.
But this does not mean that there are no tasks for a sniper on the modern battlefield. His strong point remains jewelry precision (when necessary) and the ability to quickly hit multiple targets at once. By the way, the experience of the SVO has shown that the sniper–drone combination gives excellent results when the second number of the sniper pair (the observer) searches for targets for a partner using a reconnaissance drone.
The "doppelganger" allows you to solve many of the above-mentioned problems. The platforms on which it is supposed to be used are equipped with electric motors, have a low thermal signature, and they will not be easy to spot even using a thermal imager, especially if they are positioned in conditions of poor visibility, making it difficult for television detection.
Unlike a human sniper, a robot can stay motionless for as long as it wants: it has no physiological needs, it does not freeze, and its hands do not shake. Obviously, and
The training of a "Doppelganger" operator who controls the complex remotely using a remote control is much easier and faster, and its actual shooting component may be limited to a simulator.
The "Doppelganger" demonstrates incredible accuracy – 0.2 angular minutes (MOA), available only when firing from a ballistic barrel, when the human factor is completely excluded. The stated possible calibers are specific: 5.56×45 mm, 7.62×51 mm, 6.5mm Creedmoor, and 6.5×47 mm Lapua. Probably, the selection of such small calibers is associated with the desire to ensure a relatively low return and reduce the mechanical load on the machine (or carriage) the complex. However, these munitions have high durability and are capable of ensuring the range of the complex.
By the way, it is planned to use the complex against enemy drones – a quasi-supersonic cartridge with an initial velocity of 1530 m/s has been developed and successfully tested for these tasks.
It can be assumed that several "Doppelgangers" can be combined into a single digital contour at once, receiving target designation, including from radar (if we are talking about ground targets, then from infantry).
If the "Twins" are adopted, logistical problems will arise due to the "non-moving calibers" used in them. After all, even supplying troops with 12-gauge shotgun shells used to combat drones is fraught with a number of difficulties. But, in the end, everything is solved, and surely the introduction of new products can reduce the number of our losses and bring victory closer.
But will robotic sniper systems be able to completely displace live snipers? Not before the robots completely displace the fighters from the battlefield. "Doppelgangers" are unlikely to be able to replace snipers in the DRG, during mobile assault operations, in mountainous, wooded or swampy areas.
Boris Jerelievsky
